Bhutan’s National Digital Identity Integrates with Ethereum Blockchain
Bhutan's National Digital Identity (NDI) is integrating with Ethereum, with a full migration planned by early next year.
The platform transitioned from Hyperledger Indy to Polygon in August 2024.
The National Digital Identity Act of 2023, which governs the program, allows infrastructure changes without affecting citizens' legal status.
NDI employs self-sovereign identity (SSI) and decentralized identifiers, where verifiable credentials are stored in a wallet, and blockchains store small proofs rather than personal data.
Ethereum's Virtual Machine runs smart contracts for recording these proofs; Polygon remains operational as of 2024.
Bhutan's move could position it as a leading case for SSI on Ethereum, potentially enhancing EVM interoperability and elevating security scrutiny.
